The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.

We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

Packaging industry trends: the shift towards a sustainable future
Report from BDO published in December 2022 on the packaging sector. Covers major challenges, the innovations driving opportunity, the structure and evolution of the market and M&A activity. Free registration required to download the report.

No ordinary disruption: Winning with new models in packaging 2030
Report from McKinsey & Company on changes expected within the global packaging industry in the next decade and how companies can prepare for them. Major trends highlighted include e-commerce, changing consumer preferences, FMCG and retail-margin compression, sustainability and digitalisation. Published in May 2019.

  Market research reports focusing on this business sector are available from a number of market research specialists. In most cases these reports are available to fee-paying subscribers or on a pay-as-you-go basis. 

Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.

Euromonitor
A full listing of reference products and research reports for the packaging industry from Euromonitor, with a range of global, country and company level reports. Each report provides a contents listing and a useful executive summary reporting on the key trends in each country report.

IBISWorld
Business and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors. Topics include wooden container manufacturing; cardboard packaging and paper bag manufacturing; plastic packing goods manufacturing; and light metal packaging manufacturing. Report snapshots, table of contents and a sample report are available. The company also produces global industry research reports.

Mintel
Glogal packaging trends 2019. Free report from Mintel on four packaging trends in 2019.

Other reports

Global Forest, Paper & Packaging Industry Survey 2016
Annual survey from PwC looking at the performance of the world’s largest forest, paper and packaging companies and the issues impacting the industry.

Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI)

The CPI provides statistics on the industry covering consumption and production, raw material usage and exports.

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

• number of enterprises;
• total turnover;
• approximate gross value added at basic prices;
• total purchases of goods, materials and services;
• total employment costs;
• total net capital expenditure;
• total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
• total net capital expenditure – disposals;
• total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
• total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
• total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

• Manufacture of articles of paper and paperboard (17.2)
  See Section C: Manufacturing
• Manufacture of plastic packing goods (22.22)
  See Section C: Manufacturing
• Manufacture of light metal packaging (25.92)
  See Section C: Manufacturing
• Packaging activities (82.92)
  See Section N: Administrative and support service activities

Eurostat

Eurostat, the EU statistics hub, collates detailed Structural Business Statistics giving the latest figures for industry, construction, trade and services by sector and country. The indicators available include:

• number of enterprises
• turnover or gross premiums written
• production value
• value added at factor cost
• gross operating surplus
• wages and salaries
• social security costs
• gross investment in tangible goods
• gross investment in land
• gross investment in existing buildings and structures
• gross investment in construction and alteration of buildings
• gross investment in machinery and equipment
• number of employees
• number of persons employed per enterprise.

Statistics within the database are available for:

• Manufacture of articles of paper and paperboard (C172)
  See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’
• Manufacture of plastic packing goods (C2222)
  See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’
• Manufacture of light metal packaging (C2592)
  See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’
• Packaging activities (N8292)
  See database section ‘SBS – services’

UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade)

The UN compiles and publishes international import and export statistics in the Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade), giving figures for goods traded by value, quantity and weight for each country.

Statistics are available for:

• Paper & paperboard, articles of pulp, paper and board (48)
• Glass and glassware (70)

UN Industrial Commodity Statistics Database

The UN provides statistics on the quantity of goods produced by country in the Industrial Commodity Statistics Database.

Figures are available for:

• Sacks and bags of paper and other packing containers of paper or paper-board (32)
• Sacks and bags, of plastics (36)
• Boxes, cases, crates and similar packing articles, of plastics (36)
• Carboys, bottles and similar articles of plastics (36)
• Bottles, jars and other containers of glass (37)
• Containers (other than for compressed or liquefied gas) of iron, steel or aluminum (42)

UK

The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.

The data includes average employment costs for packers, bottlers, canners and fillers.

The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:

• Manufacture of articles of paper and paperboard (172)
• Manufacture of plastic packing goods (22220)
• Manufacture of light metal packaging (25920)
• Packaging activities (82920)

Other regions

Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.

UK

GOV.UK offers guidance and information on packaging topics, including:

• Plastic packaging tax
• Producer responsibility regulations

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has a section on health and safety in the paper industry, which includes latest regulations affecting this industry.

Other regions

The World Packaging Organisation provides links to packaging regulations in China, the EU and Turkey.

Trade Tariff

The Trade Tariff is a useful Gov.uk database listing tax, duties and licenses for the import and export of goods between the UK and other countries. The database is searchable by product or commodity code and results can be filtered by date and country. Information also includes links to relevant conditions and regulations.

See import and export information for:

• articles for the conveyance or packing of goods, of plastics; stoppers, lids, caps and other closures, of plastics
• cartons, boxes, cases, bags and other packing containers, of paper, paperboard, cellulose wadding or webs of cellulose fibres; box files, letter trays, and similar articles, of paper or paperboard, of a kind used in offices, shops or the like
• carboys, bottles, flasks, jars, pots, phials, ampoules and other containers, of glass, of a kind used for the conveyance or packing of goods; preserving jars of glass; stoppers, lids and other closures, of glass
• aluminium casks, drums, cans, boxes and similar containers (including rigid or collapsible tubular containers), for any material (other than compressed or liquefied gas), of a capacity not exceeding 300 litres, whether or not lined or heat-insulated, but not fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment.

The websites of trade bodies in this sector are a useful source of industry overviews, contacts and statistics.

UK

• British Bottlers' Institute
• Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI)
• Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA)
• Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN)
• Industrial Packaging Association (IPA)
• Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association
• Packaging and Films Association (PAFA)
• Packaging Federation
• Timber Packaging and Pallet Confederation

Europe

• Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging (APEAL)
• Confederation of European Paper Industries
• European Carton Makers Association
• European Federation of Wooden Pallet and Packaging Manufacturers (FEFPEB)
• Flexible Packaging Europe
• Pro Carton: Association of European Cartonboard and Carton Manufacturers

Americas

• Asociación de Corrugadores del Caribe, Centro y Sur América
• Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (US)

Asia

• Asian Packaging Federation

Global

• International Corrugated Case Association
• World Packaging Organisation

The World Packaging Organisation provides a directory of member organisations and affiliate members internationally.

Trade journals, B2B magazines and specialist consumer magazines are another useful source of news and statistics.

• International Bottler and Packer
• International Paper Board Industry
• Packaging Europe
• Packaging Gateway
• Packaging News
• Packaging Strategies
• Packaging Today
• Packaging World
• Plastics in Packaging

Articles and books in the Library collection

• View a list of articles and books in our collection on packaging

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to book loans.

You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports by post or email through our document supply service.